Opera Bites: Met Live in HD's "Damnation of Faust," laden with special effects, is an opera unlike any other

Saturday's broadcast from the Metropolitan Opera will be a new production of Hector Berlioz's "The Damnation of Faust." The high-definition broadcast will begin at noon at the Town Plaza Cinema; the encore broadcast will be at 7 p.m. Dec. 3.

Hector Berlioz is one of the most exotic and romantic of all composers, and he was fascinated by the story of Faust as told by the German author Goethe. "The Damnation of Faust" is a strange work. Ethan Mordden writes this about it: "Depending on how one views it, it's a symphony that should be staged or an opera that can't be." The new Met production uses many bizarre special effects to bring this exotic composition to life.

In the October issue of "Opera News," Greg Sandow describes the opening of the opera: "When it starts, with a simple melody played by unaccompanied violins, it's as if the piece had no beginning, as if the melody had been playing before the music started."

The opera is a series of tableaux, depicting episodes in the life of Faust. In Part One, Faust is alone watching the country peasants dancing. In Part Two, he is in his study; this is a weary man who really wishes to die, but then Mephistopheles appears and promises Faust every experience and delight. The two characters go to a tavern in Leipzig, Austria, where they are entertained by students. Later, Mephistopheles transports Faust to the banks of a river and shows him the vision of Marguerite.

In Part Three, Faust and Marguerite finally meet. Mephistopheles watches them and sings a mocking serenade about man's deceit of innocent femininity. The final part of the opera begins with Marguerite's heartbroken song of grief in the belief that she has been abandoned by her lover. Faust appears and the two are reunited. However, Marguerite has unwittingly poisoned her mother and now she must be rescued.

Mephistopheles will do this if Faust will sign away his soul. When he does so, horses appear and they all gallop away — to hell. The special effects for this scene show a projection of many horses galloping across the back of the stage. At the last moment, Marguerite is saved and welcomed into heaven by a chorus of angels.

"The Damnation of Faust," which premiered in 1846, was not a success. "The audience was more composed than the music," wrote one critic. Well, opinions change over time and now this monumental work by a monumental Romantic composer has been given the respect it deserves.

Barb Herbert of Cape Girardeau is an opera lover and host of Southeast Public Radio's "Sunday Night at the Opera."